A Narrative History of the Montana Heritage Project

A Study of Montana in the 1920s

Mary Sullivan

Bigfork High School

1999-00

Students in Bigfork read Norman Macleanís. A River Runs Through It and then visited many of the places mentioned in the book. They identified a number of themes found in the autobiographical novel and then explored ways these themes existed in Montana in the 1920s and how they have been carried through to Bigfork in the 1990s.All five junior English classes visited the Lake View Care Center to learn more about Montanaís past. In searching for stories from the residentsí youth, students were encouraged to ask broad questions.

Many students went back to the nursing home on their own to continue their interviews. Student Ashley Perleberg said, “Writing down this information was the only hard part because I would often become engrossed in Naomiís stories and forget to take notes.” Students attended a one-day photography workshop and then went back to the Lake View Care Center to take portraits of the residents. A brief biography was matted and framed with each portrait and placed outside the residentís room.